The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Celebration or mourning?
Some Ugandans like Gen. Moses Ali, 1st Deputy Prime Minister thoughhave questioned the rationale of celebrating the feat, saying Ugandans should be mourning the dead soldiers that were killed during the operation. Ali’s thoughts are shared by a number of Ugandans who felt the attack was an affront on Uganda’s sovereignty. Ali was also the Minister of Finance at the time the raid happened.
Magode Ikuya, a former member of FRONASA with Museveni wonders what “sovereignty means to people like Ali”.He says Ugandans did not have sovereignty at that time because the Amin regime had trampled on it.
“Idi Amin took away the sovereignty of Ugandans, he had turned Uganda into a killing ground, there was no freedom,” Ikuya says.
He adds that there was euphoria because Ugandans were not free.
“People were interested in how the regime would be weakened. The population did not have any sovereignty, we were just objects”.
“When the raid took place, it dented Amin’s confidence because he had created an aura of himself as a great military man, he was humiliated.”
Ikuya says it is the danger of dealing with politics that is not clear.
“Some African regimes talk about nationalism when they are actually doing things that are anti-nationalism. When a population sides with other criminals, it is because they have been denied something. So we can say we had a group of murderers and bandits who were hit by a superior group of bandits, as Ugandans we had reason to celebrate.”
Ikuya told The Independent that the anniversary of the Israel raid should, however, not be a national occasion because the event did not grant Uganda victory to celebrate.
